Astronomical Imaging
with Video

Having tried a little
imaging with 35mm film, I considered what else I could use with
my telescope which would produce images more quickly than using
film. Having only just got back into astronomy I didn't want to
spend too much money at first in case I wasted it, and cooled
CCD seemed very complicated and very expensive. I had been used
to using video cameras of various ages to image subjects down
a microscope for many years, and decided to try this approach
first. Armed with a small TK1070 colour camera which I managed
to scrounge, I started with the brightest objects the Sun and
the Moon. Having seen what I could do on the Sun, I decided that
this would be the best method to capture the forthcoming Total
Solar Eclipse, but how to record the data?

I had an old Ferguson
VHS portable recorder from many years ago, and a 12 volt Television
was also easy to get hold of, but transporting these in and out
of the house was going to be a pain, and taking them to Romania
for the eclipse was not really practical. I did some investigations
and came across the Sony Video Walkman. This little unit was ideal
for portable imaging. A very compact unit with built in screen
that will fit in your pocket and record on DV from composite or
YC inputs. The only problem was the price, over a £1000.00.
Well I decided it would be worth it especially for the eclipse.
It is not a decision I regret, it is a great piece of equipment.

The colour cameras
whilst sensitive enough for Solar and Lunar imaging were not good
enough for use on the planets. For this I decided on a B &
W camera of high sensitivity, I was looking at a small Watec,
but decided on the Astrovid 2000 as it had a remote box for control
of the camera functions. A definite plus.

.....

Here is the TK1070
camera with Daystar H alpha filter, and the Astrovid 2000 complete
with control box

.......................

Saturn and Jupiter
with an Astrovid 2000 on a 10" LX200 single frames

.... .. .

The Moon with an Astrovid
2000 on a 10" LX200 single frames

...............

Imaging the Sun's features
using both Astrovid 2000 and JVC TK1070 video cameras

I have recently moved
on my Astrovid 2000 in order to get a Astrovid Stellacam, this
camera is more sensitive than the 2000, and I want to try some
imaging of meteors and satellites.

........

At the Thetford meet
in April 2002 we had the opprtunity to have comet Ikeya Zand reasonably
high up, so I attached a 135mm OM lens to the camera, and captured
some mages on the Sony video Walkman. Here is a captured image
usingth Sony Vaio ilink.

The comet is the brighter
fuzzy blob.

I also had a go at
imaging some stars, and objects that I would not normally do with
video. See if you can recognise them. They are labeled in case
you struggle. The Stellacam does allow integration so for deep
sky applications, a driven mount can readily stack 128 images,
so enhancing the image you get.